Green party and immigration

We are dismayed to see the response by a very small group of Green party members to Natalie Bennett's bold speech on the toxicity of the immigration debate (Letters, 25 July). We are migrants, the children of migrants and people whose families have lived in Britain for centuries. We reject the attempts by government and the media to divide us. We welcome the vital contribution made to our country, our lives and our public services by immigrants and the children of immigrants

National leaders have shamefully scapegoated migrants as the cause of the housing shortage, wage stagnation and increasing pressures on the benefit system. It is disappointing to hear the false narrative repeated that mass migration is a driver of societal ills. Bennett was correct to say "the government is scapegoating immigrants instead of acknowledging its own failings". It is also true to state that this rhetoric drives discrimination, violence and disadvantage. Too many of us have experienced such prejudice.

• When Natalie Bennett stands up against immigrant-bashing rhetoric, she represents the democratically agreed policy of our party and is quite right to do so. Chris Padley et al present the idea that immigrants are a burden on our public services as a fact, when the figures show the opposite to be true – immigrants tend to contribute more through taxes than they take in services. They express the view that immigrants are an environmental burden – demonstrating an outdated 70s environmentalism obsessed with population while ignoring vast inequalities in consumption levels. They claim it is Natalie's rhetoric which is shifting blame onto immigrants as vans tour London telling them to go home.

The rhetoric used by Labour, Tories and now even Lib Dems shifts blame for the mistakes made by these parties on to immigrants. The vast majority of Greens are proud that our leader is becoming the loudest voice calling on them to stop this dangerous scapegoating.Adam RamsayOxford

• I don't often agree with Nigel Farage, but he is right that the billboards being driven around some areas with high immigrant populations are "nasty" and "unpleasant" (Anger at 'go home' message to illegal immigrants, 26 July). The government's choice to adopt a slogan similar to that used by racists in the 70s is deeply disturbing, particularly at a time when the Muslim Council of Britain has expressed fears about a "dramatic escalation" of attacks against British Muslims. However, it is predominantly the rhetoric of Ukip that has caused immigrants to be so causally demonised by the government and other political parties. Mr Farage has spoken of "opening up our borders" to 28 million Romanians and Bulgarians, as though the entire populations of those nations were about to uproot themselves and move to the UK.

The government is clearly guilty of scapegoating immigrants for Britain's problems with housing shortages, low wages and unemployment. The fault clearly lies with its own policies, and those of the former Labour government.Natalie BennettGreen party leader

• Your correspondents are right to decouple environmental issues from personal prejudice against immigrants. However, the key driver for migrant labour is economic: greater exploitation means greater profits, and employing people from lower-wage economies is cheaper and more flexible than drawing on the standing army of reserve labour known as the unemployed. The left too often mistakes the economic liberalism of the right with its own social liberalism, and sings the same tune as the neoliberals.Peter McKennaLiverpool